Presto Balance Android Application

Presto Balance Android Application

Introduction

Unfortunately, I cannot support this project any longer. Since I moved out of the GTA, I don't have access to the Presto system and cannot practically provide updates for this application. Luckily, though, the official site has somewhat gained mobile usability.

In an attempt to improve usability of the official Presto Card website, I launched a microsite that allowed users to check their balance of registered and unregistered Presto Cards in a responsive interface optimized for screens of all densities and sizes. You can read about the microsite and some of the additional features built into the backend in this article.

Meet Prestin

Instead of trying to mirror the nuance of the official Presto Card web service, I decided to design a sort of mascot that could represent Presto Balance. Prestin also acts as an anthropomorphic presence that assists users through the first stages of setting up the application. As you can see, the design borrows from the Presto Card terminals commonly found at GO Stations.

Prestin

First Steps

Adding a new registered or unregistered card is easy with the setup guide. Prestin walks the user through decisions and entering their credentials. This step-by-step guide was created using a custom ViewPager with swipe navigation disabled. Paging is controlled by success criteria in the registration process, although a user can always return to the preview step using the device's back button.

Presto welcome Presto decide
Presto credentials Presto complete

The credentials step runs a test (tries logging in with provided credentials) before allowing the user to progress to the next step. Previous versions of the application lacking the guide would allow the addition of credentials without testing them beforehand. If a user incorrectly entered their details, it may have be unclear as to why the application would fail to pull any information.

Card Overview

The main card view allows a user to quickly scroll through all of their registered cards. This view also supports combining registered and unregistered cards in a single view. Unregistered cards can have a nickname associated with them to make them easily distinguishable from each other. Pessing on a registered card will navigate to the card detail view.

Presto card

Card Detail

In the card detail view, users can see their card history organized by date with easily readable agency labels. The locations names take advantage of the hundreds of location name corrections available on the Presto Balance microsite for consistent and correct formatting.

Presto transactions